When it comes to search engine rankings it is almost a given that people will direct their attention to Google. But while Google has definitely been the leader of the pack in search engine optimization, they are not the lone ranger in the field. Bing is now emerging and making great strides in enhancing their search engine activity on the web. Following Google’s lead, Bing has just released its new algorithm that will also concentrate on websites that are more mobile friendly. According to Superb Digital,
Last month Bing, the search engine designed by Microsoft, announced that it too would be releasing a new update for its search engine algorithm that, like the update released by Google, would favor mobile friendly websites over those that weren’t optimized for use on mobile devices.
This now makes two major search engines that have opted to shift their efforts to encouraging more businesses to be more mobile friendly.
How Is Bing’s Algorithm Different?
There are definite similarities between Bing’s and Google’s algorithms; each will search out those sites that have been optimized for mobile devices and will rank those sites based on how well they perform on those devices. However, Bing’s new algorithm has one major difference. Bing is taking a more lenient stance when it comes to penalizing the top performers for not making the transition to more mobile friendly devices.
In other words, if a site has already earned a position in one of the top five spots on their search engine, they won’t be pushed down in the rankings if their content is relevant to the search results. As they explain at TechCrunch.com,
This means that for mobile searches on Bing, you can always expect to see the most relevant results for a search query ranked higher, even if some of them are not mobile-friendly. While the changes will improve ranking for mobile-friendly pages, webpages that are highly relevant to the given query that are not yet mobile-friendly will not be penalized.
However, if your business has not reached that pinnacle of success in this search engine, you may have to go back to the drawing board to incorporate some major changes to earn its position at the top again.
What Does This Mean for Your Search Engine Optimization?
Even before Google announced its new algorithm changes leaning towards mobile-friendly devices, businesses had been warned that change was coming. Smart business leaders took heed and made changes to adapt to the new trends in search engine optimization. As a result, when Google did make the algorithm change many businesses were ready and prepared.
On the other hand, if you had not made the changes, chances are that your were caught unawares and saw your site drop some notches in the page rankings. Now with the added introduction of Bing’s new algorithm, it is clear that a business that is not mobile-friendly could lose major points in the ranking order with two of the top search engines online. This could be devastating for a business’ future.
However, there is a way for your business to overcome those obstacles. Both Google and Bing offer businesses’ webmasters the tools needed to help them analyze the mobile-friendliness of their sites so they’ll have a clear idea of what adjustments their sites need in order to regain their competitive position again.
It is clear that it takes a lot for a business to keep up with the constant changing that happens online. For most businesses that have up to this point been able to manage their search engine optimization on their own, they may be finding it difficult to keep up with the times. As they explain at Acs-web.com,
SEOs undeniable value comes with a continuous need for improvement. Between Bing’s search updates and Google’s Panda and Pigeon changes, all occurring in under six months, staying competitive today requires competent, responsive SEO management.
It can be a full time job to keep up with the constant changes coming down the pipeline in the world of search engine optimization. With each adjustment, your business could be penalized for not preparing ahead of time. This could cost you a major loss of revenue if potential customers cannot find you. It may be time to consider getting help to keep you in the mix. Today, it’s not about claiming that spot in the rankings where you can be found, it’s about finding a way to stay there once you arrive.